A sensational qualifying result for Daniel Lloyd on Cheshire’s picturesque Oulton Park circuit this weekend unfortunately went unrewarded during rounds 10, 11 & 12 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship with a series of set-backs preventing the Huddersfield-man from capitalising on his impressive pace (June 4/5).
The weekend stated in perfect style for Lloyd with the 24-year-old claiming a sensational second in the afternoon’s qualifying session. Narrowly missing out on pole by just 0.019 seconds to two-time BTCC Champion Colin Turkington in the works-backed Subaru; Lloyd’s incredible performance also delivered a first front-row start for the Eurotech Racing team in over two years.
“Getting P2 in qualifying on only our second time out in the Honda was mega! I’m still getting used to the tyres and learning how to get the most from them so to just miss out on pole was incredible;” said Lloyd.
“The Eurotech guys did a great job. The Honda felt really good and actually I was a bit gutted about a mistake in the first corner as I think we definitely could have got pole, but everyone was over the moon with P2!”
Starting on the Dunlop soft compound tyre for Sunday’s opening race Lloyd got off to a strong start in the opening laps before being edged out wide by the works-Honda on lap 2. Having lost a couple of places Lloyd battled hard holding off challenges from Plato’s charging Subaru for three laps on the challenging circuit before an illegal move by the Team BMR driver forced Lloyd’s Honda Civic Type R to surrender another spot, dropping him down into 5th. Struggling with the grip on the soft tyre in the later laps, Lloyd was unfortunately passed on the start-finish straight and had to settle with a 6th place finish.Race 2 failed to deliver the improvements that Lloyd was hoping for with the #23 Civic struggling on outright pace and handling on the tight and twisty circuit as it wrestled with the 33kg of success ballast on-board. Despite his best efforts, a problem with the Honda’s brakes saw Lloyd drop down the order during the 15 lap outing to eventually end the race in 13th place.Having made some dramatic set-up changes and replaced the brake pads on the Civic Type R for the final race of the weekend Lloyd and the Eurotech squad were full of confidence heading into race 3. The Honda charged off the line, immediately moving up in 10th in the opening laps before taking Morgan for 9th just after the mid-way point. With the mid-pack bunched up as they challenged for places on lap 13, Lloyd took a massive hit as they headed into the chicane, forcing the Honda off track with significant damage and ending Lloyd’s weekend early, recording his first DNF.“It was unfortunate the way the races ended up after such a strong qualifying result but I have to take all the positives away from the weekend; added Lloyd. “I’m really, really proud to have put the car on the front row on only my second weekend in the car. That’s what we’re there to do, to show how quick I am and I have to say to a big thank you to the guys at Eurotech Racing for giving me the chance to do that with such a great car.“It was great for all my sponsors to be there with us for the day. We had a lot of guests there from Mend-A-Hose, Silver Bay Point, Support Warehouse and Propack and to be able to get them onto the front row of the grid for the first race was really good and something they’ll hopefully remember.“It’s still a steep learning curve for us in the BTCC and we’re still learning in terms of race set-up and pace;” continued Lloyd. “I had some really strong starts this weekend and took a big step forward from Thruxton. We have lots of positives to take into the next meeting at Croft where we’ll be looking for another strong qualifying result and to improve our race pace.”Highlights of rounds 10, 11 & 12 from Oulton Park will be shown on ITV4 from 1.25 – 3pm on Saturday June 11 and will be available on demand via the ITV hub at www.ITV.com. The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship now has a short two week break before heading to Huddersfield-based Lloyd’s local circuit and the only Yorkshire track on the calendar, Croft for rounds 13, 14 & 15 on June 18/19.ITV4 can be found on Freeview channel 24, ITV4 HD on Sky channel 120.
Daniel is also proud to be a Yorkshire Patron and ambassador for the Forget Me Not Hospice.
